Melodies in the Sports Field

[jimmydalad]

((Maxim Senders: Sandbox Start))

After the clubs had finished their various activities, the football field was now completely empty and barren. Maxim, having just finished dancing lessons, decided to venture over to the field, humming a little melody to himself as he did so. He didn't feel like going home yet and as such, wanted to find a place where he could just relax and enjoy himself. He wasn't sure where his friends were so he couldn't hang out with them and he occasionally went to the field in order to rest and just enjoy what was around him. He had to admit, Patriot High did have an awesome field. It really was a shame they didn't use it for dancing. Maxim knew it would make an awesome stage for some of his performances.

After walking for a while, he eventually reached the field and sat on one of the bleachers and gazed over the field, his eyes wandering around to see if anyone was still around. Luckily, no one else seemed to be here, from what Maxim was able to see. He let out a small sigh as he was feeling a little lonely and there was no one around to check out. Though he preferred being with others, he realized that he couldn't spend every single day hanging out with friends. So he was content to just lounge around for now.

Slouching on his seat, he looked up towards the sky and began to hum. He let the melody overtake him as he continued to hum the song that was on his mind. His eyes closed as he slowly lost himself to the song as the lyrics started to form. It was times like these that he completely lost track of the world around him, his mind overtaken by the music. It was times like these that he really enjoyed as he was consumed in the feeling of sheer bliss. The world was completely forgotten and all of the shit it had as well. It helped keep his mind off things, though it only lasted for a moment.

"You know that I want you and you know that I need you.

I want it bad, bad romance

I want your love, and I want your revenge you and me can write a bad romance.

I want your love, and all your love is revenge you and me could write a bad romance. Maxim sang loudly as he continued to sing Bad Romance for no reason at all except for the fact that he liked the song a lot. His voice reverberated around the field as he completely lost track of everything that was happening around him. Right now, he was in his own world.

((This is an open thread than anyone can join. It could be good for setting up relationships and such ))

[Laurels]

((Louisa Bloom: Sandbox Start))

Louisa sat on the grass near the bleachers. She didn't have to work today, so she decided to spend some time outside and try to do some writing. She figured it would be a good idea to try and write about some of the school activities, and figured that it might be a worthwhile idea to get inspiration from the football team practice.

In her hands was a small Moleskin notebook she liked to write her poems into. She moved a pen across the pages, trying to create lyrics based on what she saw. Of course, most of the recent pages were full of lines scribbled out and small notes written next to them.

A line of statues grace the field
prepared for the next call.
Constantly waiting for the signal to spring,
they are lifeless beings inanimate.
A quick shout!
A few numbers!
A siren blares.
They live.
The rush.
The collision.
The anarchy of interaction.
The figures become frenzied wild children in a single moment,
trying to reach their bad romance---------------

That's when Louisa suddenly looked up. Someone was singing, loudly.

What cacophony is this? To suddenly have burrowed into my head as a mole burrows into the earth, leaving holes in my thoughts?

Louisa stood up and looked around. That's when she saw him. Maxim Senders. She let out a small laugh and shook her head. Of course Maxim would be singing classic pop without a care in the world. Louisa always was amused by this boy and his complete freedom of spirit.

"Hey Maxim," she shouted. "Looks like I wasn't the only one hoping to reach artistic nirvana by the bleachers. How are you?"

[jimmydalad]

A sound of a very familiar voice pierced his mind and caused him to snap out of his self-induced trance. His eyes shot open and he sat up as he quickly turned to the origin of the voice, a smile stretching across his face as he saw Louisa, one of his good friends at Patriot High. Both of them were artists, but in different ways. Though Maxim knew that Louisa wrote poetry, he never was able to see what her poetry was about. She always insisted on keeping it a secret, which he didn't mind too much.

"Yeah, you could say I was trying to reach my artistic whatever you said." Maxim said happily, launching himself off of the bleachers and safely landed on the field, crouching a little on the floor as he cushioned his landing. He then stood up and turned towards Louisa, smiling happily as he started to walk towards her. He put one of his hands behind his head and rubbed it a little sheepishly, more because she came in when he was singing "Bad Romance" than anything else.

"I was feeling a little lonely anyways. But apart from that, I'm feeling good, just a bit bored. Don't really want to go home yet. What about you?" Maxim asked as he eventually reached Louisa. He couldn't help but notice the pen and notebook in her hand and from what she said to him before, Maxim came to the conclusion that she was writing yet another poem. Though he knew he shouldn't ask her what the poem was about, he was really curious to see the content of her poems.

"I see you're writing yet another poem, care to let me see what you've written?" He asked in a hopeful tone, but he already knew the answer was going to be no. It couldn't hurt to ask however. Maxim scoured the area around him to check if anyone else was around. He had a habit of doing this because he wanted to avoid the more racist of his classmates whenever he was hanging around with his other friends. He wondered what was wrong with them, and realized that it wasn't them that was a problem. It was America's stance on minorities in general.

"Well, as long as you're here, we might as well sit on the bleachers, shall I lead the way?" Maxim inquired as he began to walk again towards the bleachers.

[Laurels]

Louisa smirked when Maxim responded to her question. She liked that he could be so cheery and in his own world. It's in the mind that one can find artistic inspiration, so Louisa appreciated seeing someone who could tap into their mind and try to achieve a status of solitude and joy.

Don't really want to go home yet. What about you?

"Oh, it's one of my days off from everything. I'm not scheduled to work, Amos and Marie are busy with stuff that carpools can handle, so I'm just relaxing outdoors trying to write some poetry.

I see you're writing yet another poem, care to let me see what you've written?

Louisa quickly looked at the poem. It wasn't finished, and the lyric had intruded on the stanza. But, it was in her public journal, so she could show it to Maxim. Louisa kept a few journals for poems. Her public journals were the ones she took with her places such as school and the park, with poems she could show others. The private journals were strictly kept in her bedroom. They were kept in her locked box, and would only be opened when she was certain no one would intrude. Only she could read them. No exceptions.

"Sure, you can look," she told Maxim. "It's not finished, but you can look.

Maxim then directed Louisa to the bleachers. She began to walk over, making a quick edit to the poem.

trying to reach their bad romance salvation and glory.

She sat down next to Maxim and showed him the poem.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a neat idea to write a poem about football. It's like I'm trying to improve those old Coca-Cola ads that equate their beverage with small Midwestern towns and high school football. Basically, an attempt romanticize the sport even further than it already is.

Sure hope he likes it.

[jimmydalad]

Maxim raised his right eyebrow a little as Louisa allowed him to read her poem, even when it was unfinished. She had never allowed him to read her poems before under any circumstances. Then again, Maxim didn't really have too much interest in poetry, even though he could be loosely defined as being "artistic". For one thing, English was not one of his favorite subjects and also, he just didn't really get poetry. Though Louisa tried to explain to him it was a song minus the music, he was never able to approach it as such. He just couldn't see it.

As Maxim reached the benches and waited for Louisa, he noticed her writing in her journal. He sat down and leaned backwards so that once again he was looking up to the sky as he waited for her to reach the bleachers. He waited until he saw Louisa sat next to him and when she gave him the poem she was working on, Maxim took it and flourished it a little above him, not moving from his position as he began to read the poem.

He squinted a little as the sun made it quite hard for him to read Louisa's poem for a while. After adjusting his eyes to the light, he began to read what Louisa had come up with. The more he read the poem, the more he realized just how much better she was at writing than him. Even though he wasn't the type of person who enjoyed poetry that much, he couldn't help but take delight in the words that his friend had written. When he reached the final line, he was faintly able to make out what Louisa had crossed out and he giggled a little, pleased by the fact that he had unintentionally influenced her poem.

"Nice poem Louisa. But I think it would be better if you didn't change the last line. Footballers reaching their bad romance sounds much better in my opinion." He told Louisa lightheartedly as he handed back her poem. "If only I had half your talent in poetry, I could be able to write some sweet tunes for myself. But alas, the gods have not given me such a gift." Maxim then added, putting a bit of dramatic flair in his voice in an attempt to amuse his friend. He decided to sit up as he turned back to Louisa, indicating that he had her full attention.

"The way that Patriot High goes on about our football team, I didn't think it could get romanticized any further. Guess I was wrong after all." He remarked to Louisa, commenting on the fact that the school seemed to be in love with the team, or as they insisted on calling themselves, "The Minutemen". Though he knew that the team was doing well recently, he didn't like the feeling of superiority that the team felt compared to the rest of the school. It didn't help that the school appeared to have only spurred this on instead of bringing them down to earth.

"Are you sure you want to inflate their egos anymore? If you keep on doing that, they might explode." Maxim sarcastically stated, a little frown forming on his face as he thought about the team. It was well known throughout the entire school that Maxim utterly despised the football team. He not only hated the fact that they had superiority complexes, but they also frequently partook in racial discrimination and only Maxim had ever challenged them whenever they did this. It was for that reason that Maxim never really liked being near the group and especially didn't like the fact that the school was infatuated with them.

[Laurels]

Louisa waited for Maxim to finish reading the poem. He was facing the sky and holding the Moleskin above his face. She thought that was a weird way to read, but then again, bleachers aren't that fun to sit on, so whatever made him comfortable enough to read her poem was enough.

He then giggled a bit.

Oh, he must have found the Lady Gaga reference that worked its way into the poem.

Nice poem Louisa. But I think it would be better if you didn't change the last line. Footballers reaching their bad romance sounds much better in my opinion.

"I don't believe it makes much sense. Plus, it is obvious I'm referencing a classic pop song, one that doesn't even fit into the poem."

Maxim handed the Moleskin back to her.

If only I had half your talent in poetry, I could be able to write some sweet tunes for myself. But alas, the gods have not given me such a gift.

"No, but they did grant you fabulous dancing skills. So basically, you lost clever wordplay in favor of dance prowess, while I lost coordination and rhythm in favor of a great penmanship and vocabulary."

The way that Patriot High goes on about our football team, I didn't think it could get romanticized any further. Guess I was wrong after all. Are you sure you want to inflate their egos anymore? If you keep on doing that, they might explode.

Louisa let out a short laugh.

"Don't be so worrisome Maxim. For their egos to inflate would mean they would have to know how to read. Might as well let them enjoy their superfluous high school reputation. It's not like it will mean anything when they are drafted."

"It's sort of funny. School tries to put us against one another to see who does better in sports and academics, but our country is set so that competition is fruitless when in your unit. It's almost like the military acts as a great equalizer as sorts. Everyone is treated the same, receives the same training, and is pitted towards one goal for the benefit of their group."

"But I guess it isn't a complete equalizer. There are promotions and medal to try to win, and there is no guarantee that everyone in your unit will treat you equally. So ultimately, you are pitted against your fellow soldier. Perhaps the high school setting has prepared us for active service."

Louisa then turned to Maxim.

"Oh, sorry, I must have rambled there. I bet I could write an entire dissertation on how high school adequately prepares one for military service. That ought to get me a Master's."

[jimmydalad]

”You bring up a good point Louisa.” Maxim said in reply to her statement about the football team, a statement that caused him to chuckle a little. His face softened a little due to Louisa’s little quip. Maxim wondered how many of the Minutemen had actually read a book before. For some reason, he couldn’t imagine any of them doing something like that.

It was then that she mentioned the inevitable years of service. He never really thought about it and didn’t want to think about it. There was really no reason to think about it now because in all honesty, he felt people should just enjoy life living in the moment instead of worrying about things that have yet to come or already happened. Life was easier that way.

Listening to Louisa’s rant on the military service, he sat up a bit straighter as he heard her view on the mandatory military service. He very rarely got people’s view on such issues and for once, he was truly curious to hear what she had to say. Maxim smiled as Louisa poured out word after word as he took everything she said and started to think about it himself.

He admitted that there was an ounce of truth to what she said. Everything that happens here, their popularity and reputation would mean naught when it comes to being in the army. However, would everyone be equal? For some reason, Maxim had a hard time believing that. Especially since some people in America refuse to realize the fact that ethnic minorities, most of his friends, are not scum.

”Well, with what you just said, they should just give you the degree right now.” He casually joked, then he remembered the Program. That thought made him realize how if they are somehow chosen to take part in the Program, will any of them survive? Looking at Louisa, Maxim frowned as he realized that she might never get that degree. She probably won’t get that Master’s if she was in the Program. Then the thought hit him. They might not even survive high school.

”Louisa, what would happen if our school’s being drafted for the Program?” Maxim asked her as he made eye contact with Louisa, an indication that something was up. ”I know it isn’t like me to think about stuff like this. But I can’t help but wonder if we’re even going to live to make it through high school, let alone make it to our mandatory years of service.” Maxim said seriously as he became focused on Louisa.

”If we do get put in the Program, I want to make the most of my life right now. I don’t want to have to worry about things that might not even happen. Life is so unpredictable and I want to make sure I enjoy every single moment I am on this earth, even if America is sorta making it shit right now. I don’t want to die with any regrets.” He declared, wanting to make his thoughts about this clear to his friend. Heck, maybe even best friend. There was no denying that Louisa was one of his closest friends in school. If he weren’t gay, he would’ve easily wanted to be in an intimate relationship with her. She was beautiful in her own way, one that wasn’t obvious at first.

”Oh and if we do get put in the Program, I want you to promise me something. If we are both in the game, we should try to meet up and stick together. If I’m going to die, I wanna go down with one of my good friends by my side, hopefully protecting them. In any case, we’re going to need to keep each other’s backs safe. Is that okay with you?” Maxim asked her, hoping that she would say yes. He basically poured his heart out on this matter and if Louisa were to shrug it off… Maxim wouldn’t know how to feel.

”Looks like I’m the one rambling now.” Maxim then remarked happily, laughing as he realized the irony of the situation. ”I guess I should apologize. I seemed to have gone off topic.” He then sheepishly said, blushing a little in embarrass

[Laurels]

Louisa let out a small giggle. If only Master's degrees could be handed out easily. Then she could skip high school and avoid The Program.

That's when Maxim brought it up. Louisa frowned. She was always worried about being picked for The Program. She had no idea what to do if the situation came.

"I don't know Maxim," she said. "We don't even know if we're being picked for it. Still, I can't imagine anyone else here playing in it either."

He then began to discuss living his life to the fullest. Louisa nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, there are a few things I might have to do before Announcement Day. I might collect my best poems and send them to a publishing agency. Maybe I'll try riding my bike from Milwaukee to Chicago. That shouldn't be too hard. I just have to ride along Lake Michigan. Then I can write my own version of Kerouac's On the Road."

Just then, Maxim began to ask Louisa about the game itself. He asked her to ally with him if they were both picked, and maybe they could survive together.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind being with people I feel close to in the game."

Maxim then apologized for rambling.

"It's cool. You put up with my own rambling for a bit, so it's only fair that I do the same."

Louisa then tapped her pen against her chin. She then paused.

"I feel inspired."

Louisa flipped open her Moleskin and began writing on a blank page.

Don't go without me.
Don't leave me all alone.
Stay with me in the darkness.
Provide me with light.
It seems so easy to go,
but what about the things you leave behind?
Him? Her? Them? Us?
Are you prepared to leave it all
for some brand new land?
I guess I can't stop you.
You have your own life.
If you have to give it up,
I'll just have to go with you.
The two of us,
ascending.
Stay close to me.
We're almost there.

Louisa stared at the poem she quickly wrote in her Moleskin.

"Yeah, just kind of had to go for it," she said, handing the journal to Maxim. "Like you said. Carpe diem."

[jimmydalad]

Maxim smiled when Louisa said she would. That reassured his thoughts a little, even though the possibility of them being chosen was very unlikely. There are so many other schools in America that they were bound to choose one of them instead of Patriot High. Their school wasn't special. It was just like any other school. In fact, Maxim would say that this school was so boringly mundane that they shouldn't be chosen at all. But the thought of the Program still lingered in his mind, even as he tried to reject it.

"Louisa, what are you doing?" Maxim asked her, confused as she started to write in her journal. She got inspiration for an entire poem just from that? He could hardly believe it. There was no way that she could be that good at poetry. But there she was, her pen dancing on the page as Maxim watched with shocked eyes. Maxim really underestimated her skills in poetry writing if she was able to come up with an entire poem in just a few seconds.

When she handed the journal to him, Maxim didn't know what to do at first, looking incredulously at his best friend for a moment as he tried to get over the shock. Afterwards, his eyes drifted downwards as he began to scan the page, looking at the words that Louisa wrote, being pleasantly surprised by them the more he wrote. The emotions in the poem struck a chord within him as he could feel the emotions emanating from her words. They were stunning.

"Dang Louisa, you're so good at poetry." Maxim commented as he began to re-read the poem, entranced by it. As he began to read it more and more, a melody started to play in his mind, flowing within her poem as if swirled in his mind. Before he could realize what was happening next, Maxim started to picture a song. A small song, a sad song, but it was still a song. It was at this point that he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Don't go without me.
Don't leave me all alone.
Stay with me in the darkness.
Provide me with light.

It seems so easy to go,
but what about the things you leave behind?
Him? Her? Them? Us?
Are you prepared to leave it all
for some brand new land?

I guess I can't stop you.
You have your own life.
If you have to give it up,
I'll just have to go with you.

The two of us,
ascending.
Stay close to me.
We're almost there. Maxim sung, his accompanying melody mixing together with the poem which formed the lyrics. His voice resounded around the field and was filled with a sense of longing and sadness. He reacted by instinct, he didn't think of the melody himself, it just came to him. The way he sang the poem made it only more beautiful, at least to him. He didn't even think about whether Louisa would like it or not, but he was very much hoping that she would like it.

"Sorry about that. The inspiration hit me like a hammer." Maxim said in an embarrassed tone, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. Even after he had sung the spontaneous melody, it still was clear in his head and it didn't seem as if he would be forgetting it anytime soon. He still didn't comprehend how it all happened, it went by so fast. Maxim was swept into the arms of music and melody due to poem. Thinking about it, he really enjoyed the experience.

"Hey, I had an idea!" Maxim then exclaimed as he looked towards Louisa in an excited fashion. "Maybe this could be like our song? A song crafted by the both of us. A song with the memories we had together. If we do get separated and feel alone, maybe this song could be a way to prevent us from missing each other too much. What do you think? Is it too cheesy?" Maxim asked with an ecstatic smile on his face. Even if Louisa said no, this song would definitely serve as a reminder of his times with Louisa. His happier times, when life didn't matter at all.

[Mini_Help]

((Just a quick reminder: Nobody knows yet which school has been chosen for The Program. It's all announced on Announcement Day, really shortly before people get taken away.))

[Laurels]

Maxim looked really impressed that Louisa was able to quickly churn out a poem. Louisa simply smirked as he began to look over the poem. She hoped he didn't have too many issues with a poem that was written really quickly.

To her surprise, he began to sing the words in the poem. Louisa was silent as he sang. He had a lovely voice, and she was surprised to see him put melody to her writing. She had never considered writing music before, and so she never really thought about being able to make songs out of her poems.

When he finished, she immediately began clapping.

"Woo! Now that's how you reach your artistic nirvana," she said.

Maxim seemed slightly embarrassed by his action, but Louisa was impressed. It was then that Maxim suggested that they make this their own personal song of friendship.

"Well, I don't think that's too corny. I do think I could revise it a bit first. Plus, we probably should work out the melody a bit more."

Louisa took the Moleskin and tapped her pen on the paper.

"I think the line 'but what about the things you leave behind?' is a little long. Perhaps it could be 'but what about all you leave behind?'. I also think this line should be 'provide me with the light'."

"So, how would you make it a song?"

[jimmydalad]

Maxim grinned when Louisa shared his thoughts on his idea. To think that they would work together to make a song like this, Maxim would've never imagined it before. This was just the thing to cement their friendship. The medium of art, poetry and music combined, would be a representation of the bond forged by him and Louisa. At least, that was how he saw it. The fusion of their abilities will surely form something glorious. It had to.

"Sounds good." Maxim said to Louisa as he heard all of her suggestions to alterations to her poem. He didn't question them at all because he wasn't the one who was fancy with his words. That was more of Louisa's department. As she said, he was gifted with coordination and rhythm while Louisa got the clever wordplay. His mind continued to play the melody as he tried to search for ways to improve it. The fact that this was a whole new thing to him made it quite hard for him to think about what to do next.

"Well... umm... I've never really made a song before and what just happened now came out of nowhere." Maxim told her honestly as he looked up to the sky, racking his brains for what to do next. "We could always find a piano somewhere and just jam on it a little, try to find some chords that go well with the purpose of the song. Since it's quite a sad song, we probably should have some minor chords in there as major ones would just sound too happy." He answered as he continued to think about the process of making a song.

"Once we've got the chords, we can move onto setting the tempo and dynamics of the song. I was thinking of making it a quiet and slow song, or do you think otherwise?" Maxim asked her as he started to brainstorm ideas about what the song would sound like in the end. Though he already had a simple plan for the melody, he knew he could improve upon it. Everything can be improved and he knew this just as well as anyone else.

"We also need to consider the time signature. Since we've never really done this before, we probably should go for a simple time signature. Maybe 3/4 or 4/4. Then again, we could just work it out when we have time to play it." Maxim whispered to himself as he completely forgot for a moment that he was working with Louisa on this, who probably had no idea what he was talking about. Blushing a little in embarrassment, he turned back to Louisa and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about." Maxim apologized in an embarrassed tone. "I could go into details about what each of these things mean, but that would take ages. Anyways, it would be better for you to see it for yourself rather than me explaining it to you. I think people learn it better that way any way. Then again, you may not need to worry about it too much. You could just tell me if something sounds good or not." Maxim then explained, hoping his last statement did sound too offensive to his friend. It wasn't that he didn't value her input, it was just that the process of composing a song correctly was very complicated. At least he thought it was. He didn't know exactly what it entailed anyways.

[Laurels]

Louisa listened intently as Maxim explained how they might make a song out of this poem. She, admittedly, didn't understand a whole lot about what he was saying. She did pick up a few things about music when Amos began to play piano, mostly how to read music, but she decided to let Maxim be the boss on certain aspects of it.

It was then that Maxim snapped back, realizing that he rambled a bit.

"Ah, it's okay. We seem to be the rambling types. Why not accept it?"

She smirked.

"But yeah, we could probably do it at my place. Our apartment isn't big enough for a piano, but my parents got Amos a keyboard for Christmas, so we could probably borrow it. But yeah, most of what you say sounds good. Somber, but somewhat touching. Want to come over this weekend and try to make this song?"

[jimmydalad]

"I guess rambling comes with the talent." Maxim laughed as he realized that they were both of them did have the tendency to ramble about the things they liked. For Louisa this was poetry while for him it was music and dance. Maxim could probably go on rants for hours about the mediums of dance or his interpretations of music and he was sure Louisa could go on rants about poets and the messages behind poems and stuff like that. It made him laugh more as he had this thought.

"Amos got a keyboard for Christmas? Man, wish my parents got me things like that." Maxim mumbled to no one in particular, a small pout on his face as he envied Louisa's brother for having a keyboard in the first place. "I'm all good for coming over in the weekend. I've gotta ask my parents though and double check if I can come, but I probably will be able to though." He responded as he started to attempt to recall any plans his parents might have over the weekend. Nothing came to him.

It was then that he recalled something else. He hadn't told Louisa he was gay yet. Come to think of it, he had told no one about his sexual preferences. If he wanted to live a life with no regrets, maybe he should tell her. Then again, he didn't want any stupid drama that could come from this confession. He didn't even know how his parents would react, let alone how his friends would. He grimaced for a moment as this thought came to him, but then remembered that he was with Louisa right now. Hoping that Louisa hadn't noticed him, he quickly rearranged his face into a smile and tried to think about something else to talk about.

"Oh yeah, how are your family? Is the business going well?" He asked Louisa, thinking about the pizza place that her family owned. Maxim was one of the more frequent customers there and he knew that her family could make one mean pizza. Sometimes he was curios to ask Louisa just how they cooked the pizza and made it taste so good. Then he remembered that information like that was probably a family secret, so he relented. He put his head in his hands as he looked over the football field, his eyes wandering around the place as if he was looking for something.

[Laurels]

Awesome. Maxim was up for hanging out and trying to write the song. He did seem a little envious of Amos for getting a keyboard.

"Yeah, a keyboard was easier to get into our home than a piano. Plus, it can stay in Amos' room. But, he is supposed to be camping this weekend, so as long as we don't destroy the keyboard, we should be allowed to use it."

"Oh, my family, they're doing fine. The restaurant is doing okay. My dad is doing a lot of work there, but at least business is still going well. Our regulars keep coming back for more, and the ingredients are still at their best."

"Yeah, I think everyone misses my mom though. She's got a year left in her service, and I think we are just all anxious for her to return. Marie especially wants her home. Marie hardly got to be with mom before she had to go overseas. It's really sad to think that she could grow up without her mother in her life."

"But, I guess that's why she was given older siblings, so she could have extra support until her mom comes back. Well, enough about me, what about you? How's your home?"

So much rambling!